Android - how to receive broadcast intents ACTION_SCREEN_ON/OFF?

    <application>
         <receiver android:name=".MyBroadcastReceiver" android:enabled="true">
                <intent-filter>
                      <action android:name="android.intent.action.ACTION_SCREEN_ON"></action>
                      <action android:name="android.intent.action.ACTION_SCREEN_OFF"></action>
                </intent-filter>
         </receiver>
...
    </application>

MyBroadcastReceiver is set just to spit foo to the logs. Does nothing. Any suggestions please? Do I need to assign any permissions to catch the intent?

Solution 1:

I believe that those actions can only be received by receivers registered in Java code (via registerReceiver()) rather than through receivers registered in the manifest.

Solution 2:

Alternatively you can use the power manager to detect screen locking.

@Override
protected void onPause()
{
    super.onPause();

    // If the screen is off then the device has been locked
    PowerManager powerManager = (PowerManager) getSystemService(POWER_SERVICE);
    boolean isScreenOn;
    if(Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.KITKAT_WATCH) {
        isScreenOn = powerManager.isInteractive();
    } else {
        isScreenOn = powerManager.isScreenOn();
    }

    if (!isScreenOn) {

        // The screen has been locked 
        // do stuff...
    }
}